Gershayim
Gershayim | ||
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punctuation mark | ״ | פַּרְדֵּ״ס |
cantillation mark | ֞ | וּרְד֞וּ |
compare with quotation marks | ||
"פַּרְדֵּ״ס", "וּרְד֞וּ" |
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Gershayim (Template:Lang-he-n, without niqqud Template:Hebrew), also occasionally grashayim[1] (Template:Lang-he-n), is two distinct typographical marks in the Hebrew language. The name literally means "double geresh".
Punctuation mark
Gershayim most commonly refers to the punctuation mark ⟨״⟩. It is always written before the last letter of the non-inflected form of a word or numeral. It is used in the following ways:
- To indicate an acronym.[2] For example: Template:Hebrew (singular), Template:Hebrew (plural), "report" represents Template:Hebrew; and Template:Hebrew (masculine), Template:Hebrew (feminine), "squad commander" represents Template:Hebrew.
- To indicate a multi-digit Hebrew numeral. For example: Template:Hebrew represents 18.[3] (Single-digit numerals are indicated with a following geresh.)
- To indicate the names of Hebrew letters, differentiating them from any homographs.[2] Compare Template:Hebrew "he sketched an eye" with Template:Hebrew "he sketched an ayin".
- To indicate Hebrew word roots.[2] For example: the root of Template:Hebrew/taʃbeˈtsim/ "crossword puzzles" is Template:Hebrew (š—b—ṣ); the root of Template:Hebrew /lehaˈtot/ "to tilt, to conjugate" is Template:Hebrew (n—ṭ—h); and the root of Template:Hebrew /histankreˈnut/ "becoming synchronized" is Template:Hebrew (s–n–k–r–n).
- In older texts, to indicate the transliteration of a foreign word. This use corresponds to English's use of italics. For example: in printed works of Rashi, the town of Rashi's birth, Troyes, is spelled Template:Hebrew.
Cantillation mark
Gershayim is a disjunctive cantillation accent in the Tanakh - ֞. It is placed above the stressed syllable, as in וַיִּקַּ֞ח (Genesis 22:3).[1]
Computer encoding
Most keyboards do not have a key for the gershayim. As a result, a quotation mark is often substituted for it.
Appearance | Code Points | Name |
---|---|---|
״ | U+05F4 | HEBREW PUNCTUATION GERSHAYIM |
֞ | U+059E | HEBREW ACCENT GERSHAYIM |
See also
Look up ״ in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
References
- ^ a b Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, §15f.
- ^ a b c Hebrew punctuation guidelines, § 31, Academy of the Hebrew Language Archived October 15, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Gesenius' Hebrew Grammar, §5k ff.